Department for Transport

Large Goods Vehicles

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for conducting tests of the amount of damage caused by heavier and overloaded axles when on a typical, rather than an ideal, road.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The amount of damage caused by heavier and overloaded axles is assessed applying well established, and internationally recognised, engineering based methods of calculating road wear. Current design standards for new road construction take account of recent research which shows that existing well-built asphalt roads on the Strategic Road Network do not weaken through the effects of cumulative heavy goods vehicle traffic loading but maintain their strength with time.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Burma: Sexual Offences

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure the investigation of the allegations of the use of rape and sexual violence by the Burmese army against women in Burma.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We regularly raise our serious concerns about the use of rape and sexual violence in conflict with the Burmese government, and emphasise the requirement to investigate allegations. The then Minister of State at the Home Office, the Rt Hon Lynne Featherstone, in her role as UK Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women, discussed these issues with senior members of the Burmese government in January, including with Ministers of the President’s Office, U Soe Thane and U Aung Min, and also with Deputy Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw.

Libya

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the latest situation in Libya.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK is deeply concerned by the continuing violence and political polarisation in Libya, and its impact on the Libyan people and the stability of the wider region. The Libyan people have suffered gravely from human rights violations by all sides in the conflict, and over 400,000 Libyans have been internally displaced. Infrastructure has been seriously damaged while the depletion of state resources threatens the Libyan economy. Terrorist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have established themselves, and threaten the security of both Libya and the wider region. Criminal gangs are exploiting the security void to smuggle and traffic increasing numbers of refugees and migrants through Libya, leading to continuing loss of lives at sea.A united Libyan government is urgently needed in order to address these challenges. That is why the UK welcomed the latest round of talks in Morocco and Berlin on 8 and 10 June respectively on the fourth draft Libyan political agreement, led by UN Special Representative of the Secretary General Leon. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and our diplomatic network have intensively lobbied Libyan negotiators and regional governments in support of the agreement. We welcome regional efforts and those of the African Union and others in support of the process. We urge all parties in the dialogue to sign an agreement and establish a representative Government of National Accord (GNA) that can deal with the political and security challenges that Libya faces.

Iraq: Religious Freedom

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their most recent assessment of freedom of religion or belief in Iraq and what assessment they have made of the steps taken by the government of Iraq to protect this human right.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We firmly believe in the importance of freedom of religion or belief. The persecution of individuals of all faiths, anywhere in the world, is of profound concern to us. The self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is seeking to stoke sectarian conflict across the Middle East and has launched a campaign of violence and terror in Iraq and carried out appalling atrocities against people from all communities.We welcome the commitments that Prime Minister al-Abadi has made to inclusivity, to protecting Iraqi citizens, addressing human rights abuses and holding those responsible to account.In 2015/16, the recently launched Conflict, Security and Stability Fund will provide funding for a number of projects in Iraq. One key strand of this work will focus on community cohesion, encouraging reconciliation and promoting acceptance and tolerance between communities at a grass roots level. We continue to encourage influential religious leaders in Iraq to speak out publicly and condemn sectarian violence.

Iraq: Minority Groups

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the long-term future of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq; and what steps they are taking to assist Iraq's religious minorities.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The British Government continues to condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) against all communities throughout the areas under its control. There is no doubt that religious and ethnic minorities face real dangers and great hardship in parts of Iraq. To safeguard the future of religious minorities we have to confront, drive back, dismantle and ultimately defeat ISIL and promote an inclusive and stable Iraq that recognises the importance of all its communities.We are in contact with religious leaders to discuss this issue. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), visited Iraq on 12 February and encouraged Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi to continue progress on ensuring that all minorities are represented and their rights protected. I met Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil to discuss the ongoing situation in northern Iraq.In 2015/16, the recently launched Conflict, Security and Stability Fund will provide funding for a number of projects in Iraq. One key strand of this work will focus on community cohesion, encouraging reconciliation and promoting acceptance and tolerance between communities at a grass roots level. We continue to encourage influential religious leaders in Iraq to speak out publicly and condemn sectarian violence. We will continue to explore what further support we might be able to provide to vulnerable groups and internally displaced persons.

Eritrea

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of human rights conditions in Eritrea; and how that assessment has influenced their policy on migrant returns to Eritrea.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Eritrea. There are serious shortcomings in the rule of law, reports of arbitrary detention, and limits on freedom of speech. While we acknowledge some limited progress made by the Eritrean government, including ratifying the Convention Against Torture in 2014 and the hosting of a visit by international human rights experts in January 2015, we continue to call on Eritrea to take concrete steps to implement the recommendations of the 2014 Universal Periodic Review and to fulfil its international obligations. We have been clear with the Eritrean government that the poor human rights situation is a driver of irregular migration, and the UK is committed to working with Eritrea on the issue. As with any country, decisions on migrant returns are made on a case-by-case basis in light of our international obligations and taking into account the latest available country information from a range of reliable sources. We only enforce removal when we and the courts conclude that it is safe to do so, with a safe route of return.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Skills Funding Agency

Lord Smith of Clifton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the funding provided by the Skills Funding Agency is allocated to (1) learner support and (2) skills infrastructure.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The amount of funding allocated to the Skills Funding Agency is set out in the Skills Funding letter attached here .The letter sets out the funding priorities and available budget for the further education (FE) and skills sector for the 2015 to 2016 financial year. The letter confirms that £172.8m has been allocated for Learning Support and £23.1m for Skills Infrastructure. 



Letter to skills Funding Agency
(PDF Document, 142.02 KB)

Department for International Development

West Africa: Ebola

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the total cost so far of providing personnel from the Ministry of Defence, National Health Service and Public Health England, and materials and medicines from the United Kingdom, to international efforts to tackle the recent ebola crisis.

Earl of Courtown: The UK has committed £427m to combat Ebola in West Africa, £373m for the ongoing response and £54m for early recovery programmes. This package of support covers the cost of UK operations, including Ministry of Defence assets and personnel, PHE clinicians, materials and medicines. Over £260 million has now been disbursed.

Department for Education

Pupils: Food

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what powers teachers in the state sector have to inspect children's lunch boxes and to confiscate items that they deem unsuitable.

Lord Nash: Governing bodies are responsible for their school meals service including their packed lunch policies and whether to ban certain products to promote healthy eating. If schools wish to adopt such policies, we strongly recommend that they consult parents first and ensure that any adopted policy is clearly communicated to parents and pupils.   Schools have common law powers to search pupils, with their consent, for items. There is nothing to prevent schools from having a policy of inspecting lunch boxes for food items that are prohibited under their school food policies. A member of staff may confiscate, keep or destroy such items found as a result of the search if it is reasonable to do so in the circumstances. It would be good practice for the pupil to be present during an inspection and for a second member of staff to be present if any items are to be confiscated.   If authorities and schools are concerned about their legal position, they should seek their own legal advice.

Commonwealth: Education

Lord Luce: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which Minister will attend the Commonwealth Education Ministers' Conference in the Bahamas on 22 June.

Lord Nash: Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development, with responsibility for the Commonwealth, will represent Her Majesty’s Government at the 19th Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers in the Bahamas. Education officials have worked closely with those attending to ensure the Minister is briefed across the full agenda of the Commonwealth Conference.

Schools: Discipline

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what specific ways they plan to promote recommendations on classroom control by Tom Bennett to teachers.

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent remarks by Tom Bennett regarding the inadequacy of teacher training with regard to managing behaviour in the classroom.

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of any correlation between classroom behaviour and classroom seating arrangements.

Lord Nash: The government is committed to ensuring that all teachers are trained to tackle serious behaviour issues as well as low-level classroom disruption. We have not undertaken a formal assessment of any correlation between classroom behaviour and classroom seating arrangements; however Sir Andrew Carter’s recent review of initial teacher training (ITT) content identified that some training courses are insufficiently robust in terms of training teachers to manage poor pupil behaviour. That is why we have invited Tom Bennett, a renowned behaviour expert, to lead an expert group to develop core content on behaviour management for ITT. His group will consider how best to promote their recommendations to ITT providers.   All qualified teachers are required to meet the Teachers’ Standards, which include specific requirements for developing and demonstrating effective behaviour management skills. This includes setting clear rules and routines for behaviour in classrooms, and taking responsibility for promoting good and courteous behaviour both in classrooms and around the school.

Children: Day Care

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pilots will be trialled in 2016 in preparation for the implementation of the measures contained in the Childcare Bill [HL].

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in which areas of the country pilots will be trialled in preparation for the implementation of the measures contained in the Childcare Bill [HL].

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the terms of reference for the pilots planned for 2016 of the measures to be implemented under the Childcare Bill [HL].

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will be invited to take part in the pilots of the measures to be implemented under the Childcare Bill [HL] in 2016.

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government over what period of time the pilots of the measures to be implemented under the Childcare Bill [HL] will run in 2016.

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish the full results of the pilots of the measures to be implemented under the Childcare Bill [HL]; and if so, when the results will be published.

Lord Nash: We have announced that we will bring forward the implementation of the additional 15 hours of free childcare to September 2016 for some working families in some areas. More details on the early roll-out, including the timescale, where it will take place and who will be eligible will be announced in due course.

Children: Day Care

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many three and four year-old children benefitted from the 15 hours free childcare allowance in (1) nursery classes in primary schools, and (2) maintained nursery schools, in each of the previous five years.

Lord Nash: The information requested is shown in the table below. Number of 3- and 4-year-olds benefitting from funded early education places in January each year20102011201220132014Nursery schools37,52038,73039,30038,64037,590Nursery classes in primary schools291,510296,550302,720297,090296,840   Source: Early Years Census (EYC), School Census (SC), and School Level Annual School Census (SLASC) The information is published as part of the statistical first release entitled “Provision for children under 5 years of age”.   The Department has also estimated that in 2013 there were 230,000 more registered childcare and early education places than in 2009, based on data from the Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey. The basis for this internal estimate differs significantly from the above because: registered childcare includes unfunded childcare places; covering places for all children aged 0-5; including places in private and voluntary providers and provided by childminders. The estimate excludes out of school settings.

Nurseries: Free Schools

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether nurseries linked to free schools will be allowed to employ unqualified staff.

Lord Nash: All nursery provision, including that provided by Free Schools, is subject to the requirements set out in the statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).   Nursery provision that is part of a Free School must meet the needs of all children and ensure their safety. The staff qualification requirements and adult to child ratios for all providers are set out in paragraphs 3.28 to 3.39 of the EYFS Framework which is attached.   Providing other staff hold the necessary qualifications as set out in the EYFS, Free Schools (as can all early years providers) may employ unqualified staff as part of their staffing mix.

Ministry of Justice

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 10 June (HL23), how many applications for waivers of employment tribunal fees have been made since the fees were increased; and how many of those were granted.

Lord Faulks: Since the fees were introduced in 2013 there have been 17,869 applications for a fee remission to issue proceedings. Of these, 6,536 were granted either in full or in part. There have also been 3,912 applications for a fee remission for a hearing, of which 2,766 were granted in full or in part. These figures are published in the latest quarterly Tribunal statistics bulletin which is available online.

Detainees: Death

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 10 June (HL139), what assessment they have made of the report by the Institute for Race Relations, Dying for Justice, and in particular the finding that, between 1991 and 2014, over 500 deaths occurred in some form of custody, resulting in 10 verdicts of unlawful killing, five prosecutions, and no convictions.

Lord Faulks: Every death in custody is a tragedy. Each one is investigated independently by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman or the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and is the subject of a coroner’s inquest. Every effort is made to learn lessons from these investigations, and the prevention of further deaths is a priority for police, prisons and immigration detention services.The very small number of cases in which criminal offences are believed to have been committed are referred for further investigation by the police and/or to the Crown Prosecution Service, and where appropriate charges are brought. The final outcome in such cases is a matter for the courts.The report by the Institute of Race Relations brings together information from a number of sources to highlight the particular issue of deaths of Black and Minority Ethnic people in custody. It describes 509 cases of ‘suspicious’ death, including large numbers of natural causes deaths as well as self-inflicted deaths and the ten cases that resulted in inquest findings of unlawful killing. These deaths occurred over a period of more than twenty years.The report acknowledges some of the improvements that have been made during that period. It also reminds us of the enduring nature of many of the issues related to deaths in custody, particularly that the families of the deceased and others in the Black and Minority Ethnic community continue to lack confidence that appropriate action is being taken in response to such deaths. The Government is working to address this, for example through more effective liaison with families, as well as improvements to restraint techniques and training.The Government announced in February 2014 that Lord Harris of Haringey would lead a review into self-inflicted deaths of 18-24 year olds in NOMS custody. The report will be published in due course.

European Convention on Human Rights

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their position on the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to bring forward proposals for a British Bill of Rights.

Lord Faulks: This Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. A Bill of Rights will protect fundamental human rights, but also prevent their abuse and restore some common sense to the system. Our plans do not involve us leaving the European Convention on Human Rights. That is neither our objective nor our policy. However, our number one priority is to restore some balance to our human rights laws, so no option is off the table for the future. We will consult fully before introducing legislation and will bring forward proposals for a British Bill of Rights in due course.

Ministry of Defence

Malaria: Drugs

Baroness Corston: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) serving and (2) former service men and women have required psychiatric treatment after taking Lariam (mefloquine).

Baroness Corston: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many service men and women who were deployed to Afghanistan between 2007 and 2014, and were required to take Lariam (mefloquine), subsequently required mental health treatment.

Earl Howe: Between 1 April 2007 and 31 December 2014, 16,473 UK Regular Armed Forces personnel were prescribed mefloquine (commercial name Lariam). Up to 31 March 2015, 1,066 (6 per cent) were assessed as having a mental health disorder at their initial assessment at an MOD Department for Community Mental Health (DCMH) or on admission to an MOD in-patient provider. It is not possible from centrally-held data to identify whether an assessment is associated with a patient having taken mefloquine. Former Service men and women are treated by the NHS and their status as a veteran is not always recorded on their NHS medical records. It is therefore not possible to say how many former Service personnel have required psychiatric treatment after taking mefloquine. Between 1 April 2007 and 31 December 2014, 536 UK Armed Forces personnel were prescribed mefloquine prior to or whilst on deployment to Afghanistan. Up to 31 March 2015, 43 (8 per cent) were assessed as having a mental health disorder at their initial assessment at an MOD DCMH or on admission to an MOD in-patient provider.

Malaria: Drugs

Baroness Corston: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what stocks of Lariam (mefloquine) they currently hold.

Earl Howe: As at 22 June 2015, the Ministry of Defence holds 11,505 packs of mefloquine (commercial name Lariam) each containing eight tablets.

Middle East: Unmanned Air Vehicles

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many British-controlled military unmanned aerial vehicles are currently operating within the Arabian Peninsula.

Earl Howe: The Scan Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) offers enhanced maritime surveillance and is used to provide situational awareness to Royal Navy ships deployed to the Arabian Peninsula. In addition, a number of Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) are currently operating in the Middle East in support of the Iraqi Government and International Coalition's ongoing operation to counter the threat of ISIL. Regardless of asset type or location, it is departmental policy not to confirm specific numbers of equipment platforms deployed on operations. Therefore, I am withholding the exact number of UAS/RPAS deployed on operations to safeguard operational security.

HMS Bulwark

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the total cost of deploying HMS Bulwark in the Mediterranean on search and rescue missions will be allocated to the defence budget; and how much to the aid budget.

Earl Howe: The marginal costs of deploying HMS Bulwark in the Mediterranean on search and rescue missions will be met from the UK aid budget.

Home Office

Migrant Workers: Domestic Service

Baroness Cox: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people in the United Kingdom on overseas domestic worker visas have, since 2012, been granted a residence permit, including grants of discretionary leave to remain, following a positive conclusive grounds decision that they have been trafficked.

Lord Bates: A manual review of a significant number of applications would be needed in order to provide an accurate response and this would incur a disproportionate cost to the public purse. Therefore we are unable to confirm the number of individuals in the United Kingdom who have been issued residence permits following positive identification as a victim of Human Trafficking who held leave as a domestic worker since 2012.

Asylum: Eritrea

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many requests for asylum from Eritreans have been granted over the last year, on a month by month basis.

Lord Bates: The table below shows the latest published number of nationals of Eritrea granted asylum and other form of protection in the UK, based on initial decisions for main applicants since January 2014.Number of nationals of Eritrea granted asylum or other form of protection in the UK (main applicants), based on initial decisions (1)Month/YearGrants of asylumHumanitarian ProtectionDiscretionary LeaveOther form of protection (2)2014January83000February58000March67000April77000May94000June111002July190002August179012September270100October281001November325001December409101Total 20142,144219 2015January316002February157001March63004Total January to March 2015536007(1) Initial decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period and exclude the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.(2) Figures for 'Other form of protection' include: grants under family and private life rules, which relate to the introduction of a new approach to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, from 9 July 2012; Leave Outside the Rules, which was introduced for those refused asylum from 1 April 2013; and UASC leave, which was introduced for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children refused asylum but eligible for temporary leave from 1 April 2013.The figures provided in the table are a subset of latest statistics published in the Immigration Statistics release by the Home Office, in Table as_01_q “Asylum applications and initial decisions for main applicants, by country of nationality”.The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on asylum applications and initial decisions within the Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics January – March 2015, is available from the Library of the House. 



table 1
(Excel SpreadSheet, 14.75 KB)

Cabinet Office

Electoral Register

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people successfully registered to vote in the May 2015 General Election in the month preceding the deadline for registration.

Lord Bridges of Headley: On 18 June the Electoral Commission published their analysis of the state of the electoral registers used for the General Election. The report shows that the number of entries on the local government and Parliamentary registers had increased by 1% compared with the last registers published before the transition to Individual Electoral Registration. The full report can be found at: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/190464/IER-June-report.pdf 



IER Report 
(PDF Document, 535.94 KB)

Electoral Register: Students

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to combat the decline in students registering to vote.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Government has made it easier and more convenient than ever for students to register to vote. Students can now register online in as little as three minutes and many chose to do so before the General Election. In addition the Government has released £530,000 directly to organisations that work to encourage student electoral registration, including £380,000 to the National Union of Students, and continues to foster closer working relationships between universities and authorities through the Student Forum, established and supported by the Cabinet Office.

Constituencies

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the number of parliamentary constituencies.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Government remains committed to equalising the size of constituencies in order to make votes of more equal value. The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies (PVSC) Act 2011 provides for the number of UK constituencies to be reduced from 650 to 600 and there is due to be a boundary review on this basis which must report before 1 October 2018.

Electoral Register

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to bring forward the end date for transitional arrangements to Individual Electoral Registration to December 2015.

Lord Bridges of Headley: On the 18 June the Electoral Commission (EC) published its analysis of the state of the registers used for the elections on 7 May. A decision on when the transition to Individual Electoral Registration ends will be made in light of this once the Government has had the opportunity to fully digest the detail it provides.

Electoral Register

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to end the requirement for Electoral Registration Officers to canvas households annually.

Lord Bridges of Headley: Following the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) in Great Britain in 2014, the annual canvass of households has been retained. There are no current plans to exercise an order under Part 1, Section 7(2)(b) of the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage

Baroness Hooper: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to ratify the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The government has no plans to ratify the convention at present, but we will keep the situation under review.

FIFA

Lord Hoyle: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the allegations of corruption at FIFA, and the resignation of the FIFA President.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government welcomes the investigations that are taking place into the allegations of corruption at FIFA, however, we are unable to comment further given that these investigations are ongoing.The Government also welcomes Sepp Blatter's resignation, however, this is only the start of the process of reform we need to see from FIFA.

Department of Health

Ambulance Services: Greater London

Lord Harris of Haringey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of calls relating to an immediately life-threatening situation received an emergency response from the London Ambulance Service within eight minutes in each London Borough area in the last three months; and what was the proportion that received an ambulance vehicle capable of transporting the patient safely within 19 minutes of the request for transport being made.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The information in the attached tables has been provided by the NHS Trust Development Authority and shows performance data for the London Ambulance Service from February 2015 to April 2015, detailing the response times within eight minutes and 19 minutes for each London borough.



HL456 Data
(Word Document, 20.98 KB)

Pregnant Women: Exercise

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to raise awareness earlier in pregnancy of the importance of exercise, in particular in reducing the risk of diabetes and improving babies' health.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Public Health England’s Start4Life Information Service for Parents (ISP) provides help and advice to encourage pregnant women to develop behaviours that support a healthy pregnancy and healthy start for babies.   Start4Life provides essential information and free tools on healthy eating, keeping active, vitamin supplement and breastfeeding. The Start4Life ISP sends regular texts and emails detailing baby’s development through pregnancy and up to 42 months, and currently includes information from 11 weeks gestation onwards on the importance of being active during pregnancy.   The Get Going tool developed by Change4Life, helps mums keep moving by providing a personalised activity plan to suit every level of fitness.

NHS

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the report by the NHS Forum on the creation of a fully integrated service and seven-day working has not yet been published.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Work on fully integrated seven day services has moved on and the NHS Five Year Forward View, published in October 2014, now sets out how the health service needs to change over the next five years if it is to close the widening gaps in the health of the population, quality of care and the funding of services. This overarching strategy also establishes service integration as a design principle for the new care models emerging from it. More information about new care models is attached and can be found at:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/5yfv-web.pdf 



Five Year Forward View
(PDF Document, 534.06 KB)

Medical Examiners

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the system of medical examiners will be rolled out across the National Health Service.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We remain committed to these reforms and will provide an update on implementation plans once the forthcoming Spending Review has been completed.

Multiple Births

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Care Quality Commission’s new maternity inspection framework and NHS England’s new maternity commissioning guidance will explicitly refer to the need to demonstrate how providers are actively working to reduce the much higher risks of still birth, neonatal death and clinical negligence claims among multiple pregnancies.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England and has supplied the following information:   The current version of CQC’s core service framework does not refer explicitly to multiple births. CQC is currently reviewing the framework and they are working with organisations such as the Twins and Multiple Births Association to determine how best to ensure their new framework takes account of the risks associated with multiple births. As part of the existing inspection framework CQC expects maternity services to have due regard to existing advice and guidance, such as NICE Quality Standard 46 which refers specifically to multiple births and risk assessments. Going forward the CQC will expect trusts to provide evidence of their compliance with these recommendations.   NHS England has informed us that its new maternity commissioning guidance will explicitly refer to the need to demonstrate how providers are actively working to reduce the much higher risks of still birth, neonatal death and clinical negligence claims among multiple pregnancies and how it will achieve this.   The Department together with the parent’s support and campaigning organisation Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity (Sands) and a number of key organisations including NHS England, Public Health England, the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are working on an on-going stillbirth prevention work programme. This work identifies key messages which can be used to raise awareness among both pregnant women and health professionals of the risk factors for stillbirths and the actions that can be taken to minimise these risks.   The new maternity commissioning guidance will make reference to stillbirth prevention work and will focus on identifying the evidence based interventions which impact on reducing stillbirths and early neonatal death.   NHS England has been working with many stakeholders on collating a package of interventions and best practice models to reduce stillbirths which will result in recommendations for clinical practice and are likely to be included in future commissioning specifications for maternity. The NHS England – led “Saving Babies’ Lives” Care Bundle brings together a number of elements likely to impact on still birth rates including:   - reducing smoking in pregnancy by carrying out Carbon Monoxide test at antenatal booking appointment to identify smokers (or those exposed to tobacco smoke) and referring to stop smoking service/specialist as appropriate; - identification and surveillance of pregnancies with fetal growth restriction; - raising awareness amongst pregnant women of the importance of detecting and reporting reduced fetal movement; and - effective fetal monitoring during labour.   The commissioning guidance will refer to sufficient provision of resource to support appropriate levels of these types of surveillance within the clinical practice environment.

Mental Health Services

Baroness Tyler of Enfield: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Care Quality Commission's report Right here, right now, what steps they are taking to ensure that local Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat plans are properly funded and implemented in all areas.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government’s Mandate to NHS England sets out clearly that “we expect NHS England to make rapid progress, working with CCGs and other commissioners, to help deliver on our shared goal to have crisis services that, for an individual, are at all times as accessible, responsive and high quality as other health emergency services.” The Mandate also states that the Government expects “every community to have plans to ensure no one in crisis will be turned away” based on the principles set out in the Crisis Care Concordat. The current NHS England planning guidance for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) makes specific reference to the Concordat, as well as asking CCGs to increase their mental health spend this year.   As part of their commitment to the Concordat, we asked the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to undertake a review of the experiences of people receiving crisis care. The report, Right Here, Right Now: Mental health crisis care review, has been placed in the Library and is available at:   http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/right-here-right-now-mental-health-crisis-care-review   The report will inform future inspections as part of the CQC’s new inspection regime. As part of the review, the CQC carried out 15 local area inspections of services that respond to people experiencing a mental health crisis during winter 2014-15. The CQC has now provided feedback to those localities. This feedback and the wider report will enable local partners in these areas, as well as others across the country, to identify areas for improvement which can in turn be addressed through continuously improving Concordat action plans.   The Department, NHS England and Mind are supporting all areas to develop and improve their plans, which were in place throughout England by spring 2015, on an ongoing basis, including in light of the CQC’s review.   The Government has put mental health at the centre of its programme of health reform.   We have increased investment in mental health. Spending on mental health was estimated to increase by £302 million in 2014-15, with total mental health spending rising from £11.362 billion in 2013-14 to £11.664 billion planned in 2014-15, an increase of 0.6% in real terms. We have legislated to put mental health on a par with physical health, and close the health gap between people with mental health problems and the population as a whole.